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Government, Politics, and Reform

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln are all represented in the Museum's collections—by a surveying compass, a lap desk, and a top hat, among other artifacts. But the roughly 100,000 objects in this collection reach beyond the possessions of statesmen to touch the broader political life of the nation—in election campaigns, the women's suffrage movement, labor activity, civil rights, and many other areas. Campaign objects make up much of the collection, including posters, novelties, ballots, voting machines, and many others. A second group includes general political history artifacts, such as first ladies' clothing and accessories, diplomatic materials, ceremonial objects, national symbols, and paintings and sculptures of political figures. The third main area focuses on artifacts related to political reform movements, from labor unions to antiwar groups.

During the 1970s, California’s largest electric utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), came under intense pressure from environmental organizations and the California Energy Commission to encourage its customers to conserve energy. PG&E complied, launching a public relations campaign that included this button, which dates from about 1980.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

This button’s slogan refers to boxed drinks made from composites of paper, aluminum, and plastic. Opponents of these disposable, single-serving containers objected to the difficulty of recycling multi-material packaging.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

To combat the proliferation of consumer waste, environmentalists encouraged everyone to embrace the “3 R’s”: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This button entwined that message with the universal recycling symbol, a logo created in 1970 by University of Southern California senior Gary Anderson.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

Coal-fired power plants came under mounting public health and environmental criticisms during the late 20th century. In their self-defense, utilities and mining interests argued that “clean coal” technologies would allow them to mitigate various power-plant emissions, including the capture and underground storage of carbon dioxide. As this pin contends, these advanced technologies would enable the generation of both clean and (relatively) inexpensive electric power.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

The menace of air pollution and global warming proved a potent motivating force for groups advocating renewable energy sources. The benign nature of wind power became another selling point, especially after the 1979 reactor meltdown at Three Mile Island raised widespread concern about the safety of nuclear power generation.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

Out of sight, out of mind. That attitude proved a difficult hurdle for raising concern about the use of the ocean as a dumping ground for humanity’s escalating wastes. To inspire appreciation and respect for the marine environment, this late-20th-century button incorporates an image of the famed Japanese woodblock print, “The Great Wave.”

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

The United Food and Commercial Workers commissioned this late-20th-century button, which stressed the overlap of environmental, public health, and labor concerns. The message was clear: the wanton use of agricultural pesticides endangered workers, consumers, and nature.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

Since its founding in 1892, the San Francisco-based Sierra Club fought mainly to preserve the nation’s wildlands. In the aftermath of the first Earth Day, the club expanded its range of environmental campaigns, as illustrated on this button from the 1970s.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

Beginning in 1971, with a dramatic, nonviolent protest of an underground nuclear weapons test on Alaska’s small Aleutian island of Amchitka, Greenpeace grew into one of the world’s largest environmental membership organizations. As symbolized by this button from the late 20th century, Greenpeace embraced direct-action tactics in its campaigns to address challenges like overfishing, commercial whaling, deforestation, genetic engineering, and climate change.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.

Acid rain emerged as a disquieting problem in the eastern United States and Canada during the 1980s. The principal cause was sulfur dioxide emitted from coal-fired power plants, which acidified rain and snow and thereby damaged forests and killed aquatic life. This button reflects citizen-led efforts during the 1984 presidential campaign to confront a politically fraught environmental challenge.

The button is among the more than 1,500 pin-backed environmental buttons that Gerald H. Meral donated to the National Museum of American History. Meral spent his career addressing natural resource concerns for the California state government and California-based non-governmental organizations. He began assembling his button collection in 1970.